Why work for local government?

Community

Local government employees contribute to the local community whilst working in a dynamic, fair and flexible environment. Whoever you are and whatever your background, working in local government gives you the opportunity not only to develop your career, but also to make a difference in people's lives.

Diversity

As well as the huge diversity of work, there are people from many different backgrounds working in local government. Local government values the contributions different people make and recognises that the strength of an organisation lies in having a diverse workforce.

Local councils are equal opportunities employers and have recruitment policies and practices, which ensure that they recruit new employees based on talent, ability, knowledge, skills and experience only. This commitment to equality of opportunity and respect for diversity extends not only to employees, but also to service users.

Training

Local government trains and develops its staff. Many councils run specific training programmes, such as graduate training schemes, management training programmes, training to gain professional qualifications, Apprenticeships and positive action schemes. However, you don't need to be on one of these schemes to benefit, as the commitment to training includes everybody. All new members of staff within a council receive an induction and most have regular appraisals with their line managers, enabling them to identify training needs.

Flexibility

Due to the broad range of occupations in local government, there have always been many different patterns of work. Some jobs may require you to work a full time week of 35-40 hours, but there may often be part-time and job share opportunities, or shift work.

There is a great degree of flexibility in all areas of local government work and many employees benefit from flexi-time arrangements, term-time working, compressed weeks and career breaks.

Benefits

As well as a fair and competitive salary, there are many other benefits to which local government employees may be entitled, such as generous annual leave, local government pension scheme, crèche facilities, secondments, reduced rate membership at leisure facilities and reduced fares on public transport.

Thanks to IDe&A for much of this piece. IDe&A can be found at www.idea.gov.uk